BERKELEY – The No. 16 California women’s soccer team earned itself a 1-0
halftime lead thanks to a goal from sophomore forward Lauren Battung, but
could not hold on against No. 3 Portland. The Pilots (10-0-0) scored three
second-half goals to take the nonconference decision at, 3-1, over the
Golden Bears (5-1-3) on Thursday afternoon at Edwards Stadium.

“I think the players have got the belief in themselves that they can play
with anyone,” Cal head coach Neil McGuire noted of Cal’s second ranked
opposition of the year. “I’m very, very proud of them. What they did
today, losing 3-1 against a great team. We’re never happy with a loss, but
we can move forward. The Bears at the end of the game said that one game
won’t define our season. We’re going to learn from this and move ahead to
Saint Mary’s.”

Cal scored first, in the 19th minute and held that lead until 53:17, when
Portland’s Cloee Colohan knocked in the tying score. Less than a minute
later, Sophie Schmidt upped the score to 2-1 in favor of the Pilots and in
the 77th minute, Hailey Kreminski brought the score to its final 3-1.

“We made a conscious decision to try and posses the ball,” McGuire said.
“We felt the team that possessed the ball the most would have the best
opportunity to win. The first half, I thought we did a good job of that.
In the second half, I thought we got a little tired, and as a result, it
allowed Portland the opportunity to have the ball more. When they have the
ball more, they’re going to find gaps in your defense.”

Cal took the first official shot of the game. Hassett passed to Battung,
who turned it to Shibata. Shibata fired but it missed high, sailing just
over the crossbar.

In the 19th minute, the Portland defense passed the ball back to goalie.
Her clear deflected off Battung, and Icelandic national team player junior
Katrin Omarsdottir collected that rebound. Omarsdottir passed to the
attacking Battung, who shot it to upper left 90.

“It was a great finish,” McGuire said. “LB has been working on those type
of shots for quite awhile – running onto a ball. I thought she did it
fantastically and I’m very happy for her.”

After being down for 35 minutes and the majority of the first half, the
Pilots knotted the score in the 54th minute. Taking the corner kick from
the left side, Michelle Cruz crossed the ball into the scrum at the goal
mouth. Colohan found enough foot to kick it through the crowd.

A minute later, the Pilots were already on the offensive again. Jessica
Tsao dished the ball off to Sophie Schmidt, who punched it to the bottom
left corner.

“The first goal may have been an errant hand ball, and the players were
clearly upset with that,” McGuire said. “You just have to deal with those
kinds of decisions and move on. I think we were still thinking about it
when the next cross came in. We have to do a much better job. We need to
mature in that area so that we can resolve issues better.”

The final score of the game came at 76:59. Play began with Danielle
Foxhaven, who was controlling the ball despite several Bear defenders.
Meanwhile, Kreminski got in position on the far side. Foxhoven passed her
the ball, who shot it on the ground to back left corner.

Cal looked to add one more score with 6:35 to play. Omarsdottir crossed
the ball in from the right so well that UP keeper Erin Dees had to punch
it out. Sophomore Betsy Hassett collected the rebound for a cross back
into the box, but it went out of bounds above the net.

This was the first game of the season that the previously unbeaten Bears
were outshot with Portland taking 11 to Cal’s five shots. Freshman keeper
Emily Kruger made four saves while Dees had one between the posts for the
Pilots. Schmidt tallied the game-high four shots while Battung paced her
Bears with two.

The Portland match was the Bears’ sole game of the week. Next weekend, Cal
continues its brief two-game slate against a West Coast Conference game
with a match at Saint Mary's on Saturday, Oct. 2. The game, which will
kick off at 4 p.m., is Cal's final nonconference test. The Bears have won
the past four meetings and hold the all-time advantage, 14-8-3 with the
Gaels, who are currently 6-1-2 overall. Last season's meeting saw Cal
emerge victoriously, 4-1, with Katrin Omarsdottir owning a team-high two
goals while Alex Morgan scored the ultimate gamewinner.